


Runs in the Family

by towardsmorning



Category: Artemis Fowl - Colfer
Genre: Gen, One Shot, mental illness - fictional, the atlantis complex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-22
Updated: 2010-06-22
Packaged: 2017-10-10 05:33:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/96129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towardsmorning/pseuds/towardsmorning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the sample chapter of TAC. "He swallows hard after he wakes in a cold sweat, swearing for a moment he can still see something in the dark above his head before it vanishes." How does Artemis cope with his delusions?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Runs in the Family

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: First off, for this to make sense, you need to have read the first chapter of 'The Atlantis Complex', which is available online at the official site.
> 
> It occurred to me that Artemis would probably panic when confronted with his developing mental illness, given how his mother struggled with it... this will probably end up non-canon, but it was an interesting write to be sure. I hope I didn't fail too hard at getting his state of mind across. If I did, please let me know.
> 
> **Edit (11/07/2012):** Wow, okay, this is old as hell, huh? But I wanted to come back and add a little to the notes now that the series has finished as of yesterday. So it turns out this isn't a million miles away from canon compliant! Go me, huh? I must be psychic. It also turns out that as I predicted when I wrote this fic, Colfer's attitude to mental illness continued to irritate me when I read this book, so consider this my first ever pre-emptive fix it fic.

The first dream isn't all that surprising. Artemis is almost more surprised he has not had nightmares before this- he's been through enough events that could be labelled 'traumatic' after all.

He swallows hard after he wakes in a cold sweat, swearing for a moment he can still see something in the dark above his head before it vanishes. _Calm down,_ he scolds himself, _think it through._ So long as he doesn't ignore it, he doubts it will be a problem.

***

Five nights later he finds himself in his study steadfastly putting off sleep.

He is not scared, he repeats to himself again and again. He is simply busy. Busy with things that are extremely important, and that he cannot afford to waste time sleeping over. Certainly the nightmares have come for longer than he expected, but it isn't yet at the point it is out of the ordinary. _Perhaps I should take up writing a journal again. That may help._

He taps his pen thoughtfully against his chin, distracted for a moment. The shadow out the corner of his eye distracts him further.

He whirls around, mouth already half open to shout for Butler, who is no doubt on his way after seeing the intruder on the-

Nothing is there but a mirror. In it Artemis can see his own half-manic expression, something just slightly more than fear and sitting beside hysteria on his face.

The clock reads five AM, which seems as good a time as any to go sleep, all things considered.

***

He dreams about things crawling in his ears and wakes with his mothers' name in his mouth. This is probably not a good sign.

***

He grows suspicious when he talks to people- anyone, even the twins. They _cannot_ know what is wrong before he himself does. _It's only reasonable_, he rationalises, _if anyone knows before I can tell them what this **is**, they will only panic._ So he watches carefully and avoids speaking when possible, so as to not give anything away. If there even is something to give away, and he isn't simply developing hypochondria.

Butler is the first to ask if he is alright, which he tells himself makes sense because he is around Butler so often even as his chest seizes in paranoia.

"Why?" It sounds accusatory, and he has to refrain from flinching. Butler drops the point anyway, moving the conversation about security arrangements for The Project (it seems to warrant capitalisation, he thinks) as though it had never even come up.

***

Artemis spends more time in his parents' bedroom recently. Mum calls him in, normally to talk about the double life he is- was- living, curious and worried and outraged and proud all at once and in all the right parts. It is a relief to be so honest, much to his surprise; he had often seen honesty as the route people too dim to lie took.

Today she is brushing her hair as he talks, and he finds himself counting the strokes- _one, two, three, four, five...._

She also asks many questions.

_Too many questions_ comes a short, razor-sharp thought from some part of his mind. He starts- almost as if someone else had disturbed him. But the thought stays, digging into him. _The last time she asked questions, it was Opal in disguise. Why couldn't she be back? Either of them?_

His mother notices him staring at her, and frowns. "Are you feeling well, Arty? You seem...."

He suppresses a shudder at her voice and hates the feeling. "I feel fine. I simply remembered- something I forgot to tell Butler. I will see you at dinner, Mother." She frowns even more at the formal address, but he is too busy shaking himself internally to notice and regret it.

***

The next nightmare doesn't leave after he wakes up. There's something on his pillow, something he feels like his Mother tried to warn him about a long time ago. Maybe he should have listened. Maybe the problem is that he _did_.

***

In the morning, he knows this is yet another bad sign- this is how his Mother started when she was... ill... the last time. Even the paranoia fits, somewhat. The thought fills him with panic, but he pushes down on it. If it has somehow transferred over to him, if he somehow inherited some predisposition to her mental illness, he cannot let it show outwardly. Such vulnerability made him a target, and he had to be _careful._ Of-

Artemis refuses to think the 'everyone' that fits naturally at the end of that sentence, squashing that as well. Instead he smooths the bedsheets five times to calm his heart down and gets up, determined to put time into something more useful.

***

Mother must have mentioned something to the others about his behaviour, because they too seem worried. Or perhaps that's the paranoia talking. How would he know? He's not exactly an expert on gauging emotional responses, and anyway, if Mother is Opal then it could be a red herring, to throw him off the scent.

He needs to focus. He needs to stop thinking about this. The more he thinks about it, the more it twists inside his head, and the more his mind feels like it is breaking under it all. And Artemis Fowl will not _break_ like some common child genius pushed too hard.

***

His father corners him while he is packing.

"Going somewhere?"

Artemis does not respond, clicking the case in front of him shut. And again. And again... _one, two, three...._

"Artemis, look at me."

He picks up the fairy communicator he wears as a ring. The thought it probably also works as a bug or a tracer is squashed. He is going to meet them voluntarily anyway- it is of no consequence who can find him. _This will be good for me. It will keep my mind off the number- ...off things._

"Artemis!"

_This will need dealing with once I am... cured_ Artemis realises. _Even when it is no longer an issue, they will remember._

For now, Artemis simply looks at his father and watches him falter as he tries to decipher his son's face. He hopes that he can keep saying 'when' and not 'if' as he walks past his father and out the front door.


End file.
